The Beginning of an Asterous Friendship
by Whirling
Summary: Dick is 10 years old and he loves being Robin. Sometimes it gets a little lonely, since he can't tell anyone about it, but when he finally meets this "Kid Flash" guy, it looks like he's finally found a good friend. (Oneshot! No slash. Dick meets Wally for the first time.)


**Hey people of the YJ fandom. I know this has probably been done about 500 times before (and at least half of those are probably much better than this), but I wanted to try my hand at it! I don't think it turned out too badly.**

**And, uh, yeah. I know I have like three stories in progress right now (and two I will probably never finish oops), but I don't care. Oneshots are so much easier to do, rather than stress about updating a chapter fic.**

**Anyway - hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

><p>It was the beginning of summer. Uncharacteristically, Gotham's skies were cloudless and sunny. A soft breeze stirred the citizens' hair as they walked quickly to their next destination. Despite the warm weather, it appeared that Gotham was still the same unfriendly city it had always been.<p>

For Dick Grayson, the beginning of summer meant the end of school, and the end of school meant more time to be Robin. He absolutely _loved_ crime-fighting. He was constantly looking for new knowledge that might help him defeat villains, and always up for training, no matter how harsh or tiring it was. Batman couldn't ask for a better partner.

Dick had been accompanying Bruce as Robin for close to a year, now, having started when he was nine. Bruce marveled at how easily he'd adapted his acrobatic skills to fighting on the streets of Gotham, and at how he'd channeled his anger and grief over his parent's deaths into taking down criminals. After he'd gotten used to living with Bruce and Alfred, Dick had shaken off his original shyness (due in part to the loss of his parents and family) to reveal a mischievous, energetic young boy. He did extremely well in school (he was a grade ahead of his age level), and made friends easily.

Though the Justice League and superhero community as a whole knew that Robin existed, few had actually met him. The first had been Superman - Dick met him first as Clark Kent, when the reporter visited Wayne Manor a few weeks after his adoption to interview both Dick and Bruce, as well as ask Bruce what the hell he thought he was doing (in private, of course). Next was Wonder Woman, who had visited Wayne Manor unannounced, and stumbled upon Dick in his Robin costume. The only other person who'd met him was Flash, but it had only been a brief meeting. The speedster had come to Gotham while Batman and Robin were on patrol to ask for Bruce's help.

Bruce knew that at some point he would need to introduce his partner to the rest of the League - but he wanted to wait until the boy was older. He'd only recently began teaching Dick about other heroes - their identities, powers, weaknesses, etc. Bruce wanted him to be completely educated before he took him out of Gotham.

But when Barry Allen took in his nephew, a boy only a few years older than Dick, Bruce wondered if he should introduce the two. He'd gotten a hint from Barry that he was training his nephew to be his partner, and it would be good for Robin to have a friend within the superhero community, especially one around the same age as him.

* * *

><p>After dinner, Dick Grayson bounded down the stairs to the Batcave, a grin spread across his face. He <em>loved<em> summer. It meant more time for him to use the trapeze equipment Bruce had gotten him, as well as spar with Bruce and train. Not to mention actually _being_ Robin.

As he landed on the cave floor, he skipped over to the ginormous computer that dominated one side of the Batcave. "Hey, Bats!" he said happily. "What're we doing tonight?"

Inwardly, Batman sighed at his ward's seemingly endless energy. Where in the world did the kid get it? "We're doing a joint mission. Breaking into and taking down a facility on the outskirts of Gotham that I have solid proof is doing illegal experimentation on humans."

Dick frowned. "Joint... mission?" he repeated, confused.

"Yes. We'll be teaming up with Flash and his partner, Kid Flash. Go get your suit on."

The ten-year-old's eyes lit up at the mention of finally getting to meet this "Kid Flash" person. Of course, he knew who the newbie was. He knew who Flash was, so when Bruce had mentioned him adopting his nephew and later told him about Kid Flash, Dick made the connection easily. But knowing that his name was Wally didn't mean he knew anything about him, and he was very interested to finally meet a superhero who was only a few years older than him.

He ran into the changing room, threw on his Robin costume, and ran back out. "Ready! What's the plan?"

Batman smiled a bit, before turning towards the diagram of the building they were going to that was displayed on the screens, to explain their plan of action.

* * *

><p>Batman and Robin pulled up a few blocks from the facility in the Batmobile and got out of the car. "This is where we're meeting them. They shouldn't be long," Batman said as they swung up to the rooftops to wait, leaving the Batmobile in the alley beneath them.<p>

They hadn't been there for more than a minute before two red and yellow blurs skidded to a halt beneath them. Flash glanced around the alley, and then up at the rooftops. _He's obviously used to Batman_, Robin observed. Kid Flash was still looking at ground level.

Robin stood up and waved to Flash, while Batman stood stoically by his side. Flash smiled and waved back, drawing Kid Flash's attention, and the two speedsters sped up the metal staircase on the side of the building.

"Hey, Bats," Flash said amiably, placing his hands on his hips while Kid Flash stood silently, slightly behind his mentor. Robin smiled at him encouragingly. He looked a little shy - or maybe he was just amazed to be in the presence of Batman and Robin, the dynamic duo! Robin snickered mentally; that sounded so cheesy.

Flash pushed his partner forward, between the two older heroes. "This is Kid Flash! Kid, meet Batman and Robin." The twelve-year-old waved awkwardly at them, returning a small smile to Robin.

Batman nodded to the two and got straight to business. "The plan is simple. Flash and I will enter the building first and secure the interior, as well as investigate what the facility is doing. Since I suspect some of the staff will attempt to run, Robin and Kid Flash will patrol the exterior and stop anyone from leaving the premises. Is that clear?"

Robin saluted, and Kid Flash nodded solemnly, while Flash said, "As crystal! Let's get going."

* * *

><p>Robin and Kid Flash watched as their mentors entered the building, and the younger turned to the older and held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, KF! I've heard a lot about you, and I've never met anyone else around my age who was a hero," he grinned.<p>

As he reached out his hand to shake Robin's, the speedster raised an eyebrow and asked, "KF?"

"Y'know, Kid Flash, KF? Kid Flash is too long to keep saying, so I shortened it," Robin shrugged.

Kid Flash smirked. "Alright, _Rob_."

The acrobat smirked back, and then they began patrolling the building.

* * *

><p>It had been less than an hour before they got their first sign of activity from the building. Batman had notified him about fifteen minutes ago that he and Flash had begun to subdue the employees, and to be on the alert. Now, Robin noticed a vehicle that was approaching the main gates.<p>

"Hey, KF!" He said into the comm that was connected to Kid Flash's. "Get over to my location, we've got a vehicle attempting to escape our clutches." He cackled dramatically. _I love my job._

About a second later, KF screeched to a halt next to him. "So, how do you wanna do this?" he asked. Sure, he was older than Robin, but Rob had been doing this for over a year, and Kid Flash had only even been in existence for a month or so. The bird was more experienced - not to mention he worked with the _Bat_.

Robin considered the car for a moment, then nodded quickly and returned his gaze to the speedster. "Okay, you run down and distract them. Just stand in front of the car and wave your arms or something, doesn't matter. Just get them to stop, but wait until I give the signal. I'll get down there and pop their tires, and then we'll just knock them all out. Piece of cake!"

Kid Flash nodded and grinned, pulling down his goggles. "Sounds like a plan!"

Disappearing almost instantly, Robin made his way down to the street and positioned himself just as the car got through the gates. "Okay, _go_!" he whispered into his comm.

Immediately, KF sprinted onto the hood of the car, jumping up and down on it and making weird faces at the driver. The car's tires screeched as it braked, and Robin quickly threw four batarangs with precise accuracy, slicing through the tires and leaving the car near useless. Kid Flash jumped off the car and opened the doors, tossing the people inside of it out onto the street while Robin ran over to throw small grenades filled with knockout gas in their stunned faces. In no time, they had four people lying unconscious on the asphalt, one who looked like a security guard and three that seemed to be scientists or something like that.

Kid Flash glanced uncertainly at Robin. "So... now what?"

Robin shrugged. "We leave them here until Batman calls Commissioner Gordon to come pick them up. KF seemed uneasy about just leaving the people on the ground, but Robin told him that they should get back to patrolling. "They'll be fine," he assured Kid Flash.

* * *

><p>The next hour passed uneventfully for the two young protégés, apart from one lone scientist that tried to get out a side exit. Robin simply tossed a knockout grenade in his face, and that was that. By the end of it, KF was bored beyond belief, and he had let Robin know several times before the boy told him to "get traught," whatever <em>that<em> meant.

_Finally_, Batman commed them and let them know that they had completed the mission successfully, and that they were notifying the police and coming back out.

Kid Flash groaned in mock relief. "Oh man, I thought they would _never_ finish!" Robin scoffed, but said nothing as they waited for their mentors to exit the building. Something about Batman's voice had sounded... off. It could've been some sort of interference with the signal, but he wasn't so sure.

Just as the police sirens entered hearing range, they saw Batman and Flash leaving the facility. Robin was about to flip off of the roof down to the ground, but before he could, Batman gave him a hand signal for '_stay there_.' Confused, the boy hesitated, but then he put his hand on KF's shoulder, holding him still. The red haired boy glanced at him, and Robin said softly, "He wants us to stay here for some reason."

Kid Flash rolled his eyes, impatient, but Robin remained on the alert. What had happened that made Batman tell him to keep his distance? Was he hurt and too proud to let his protégé see? (It had happened before, more times than either of them cared to admit.) Were he and Flash talking about him and KF? Did Bats just want him to keep socializing with Kid Flash or something stupid like that? Because if that was the best reason Batman had, he was going to be _so_ mad. He wanted to know what happened in there!

Turning his head to gaze at the vibrating speedster, he asked, "Why do you think they don't want us down there?"

Kid was about to reply, when the wailing sirens arrived in front of Batman and Flash, tires screeching. Commissioner Gordon stepped out and approached Batman. The two talked for a few minutes, with Flash adding in comments here and there. From what Robin could see from the rooftop, none of them looked very happy that the mission had been completed. Eventually, Batman gestured to the four unconscious bodies, and then to the roof where Rob was standing and KF was sitting, back slouched. The three exchanged a few more words, and then Flash was standing on the roof behind them.

"Hey, boys," the scarlet speedster greeted them. He sounded tired, and again Robin wondered what they had found inside the building.

"Uncle B- er, Flash!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "What took you guys so long? Why couldn't we come down? How did the mission go?"

Flash waved off the questions as Batman swung up to the roof. "We encountered some... complications. But the Commissioner can handle it. Nice job with the perimeter, you two." He attempted an encouraging smile, but it wasn't very convincing.

KF frowned, but (wisely) decided against pushing him for answers. Robin was silent as he regarded the two older heroes. They both looked tired and mildly upset. _What happened?_

Whatever the answers were... evidently, they wouldn't be getting them today. Flash and Batman exchanged a glance, and Flash forced a real-ish smile. "So, how did you two work together?"

Robin and Kid Flash smiled animatedly at each other, the tense mood temporarily forgotten, and high-fived. "We were totally awesome!" KF said excitedly. "Can we do this more often?"

This time, both of the mentors smiled for real - although Flash's was considerably larger than Batman's. "Well, I'm glad the two of you hit off nicely," the red-costumed man said. "Of course you can do this again!"

Batman simply nodded his agreement, but Robin was grinning widely at his new friend.

"Asterous!"

* * *

><p><strong>Tell me what you thought, maybe? Reviews absolutely make my day, but so do favs when I get emails about them :)<strong>

**I feel like it ended too quickly and on a weirdly happy note, but oh well, I'm too tired to try to change it.**

**I am considering doing a sequel/follow up to this, where Dick and Wally are ~14 and 16, and the people in charge of the experimentation facility get out of jail somehow. And we find out what exactly Bats and Flash saw in there. But it would have to be much longer than this, and I'm not sure if I'm motivated enough, haha.**

**Hope you enjoyed it! **


End file.
